HAWAII SPECIAL SECTION Island says aloha to good times, thanks to Ellison's renovations

Updated 3:01 pm, Friday, February 8, 2013

West Maui can be seen from a long-abandoned club that will reopen as an eco-resort.

West Maui can be seen from a long-abandoned club that will reopen as an eco-resort.

Photo: Jeanne Cooper, Special To The Chronicle

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Keahiakawelo, the scenic rock-strewn area colloquially known as Garden of the Gods, offers views of Moloka'i, where legend tells a powerful kahuna (priest) was defeated by a wily Lana'i kahuna named Kawelo.

Keahiakawelo, the scenic rock-strewn area colloquially known as Garden of the Gods, offers views of Moloka'i, where legend tells a powerful kahuna (priest) was defeated by a wily Lana'i kahuna named Kawelo.

Photo: Jeanne Cooper, Special To The Chronicle

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Rabaca's tour guide Bruce Harvey surveys the ocean from White Stone Beach, named for the uplifted coral and known as Kalaehi in Hawaiian. Volunteers with the Lana'i Culture & Heritage Center have helped restore the area.

Rabaca's tour guide Bruce Harvey surveys the ocean from White Stone Beach, named for the uplifted coral and known as Kalaehi in Hawaiian. Volunteers with the Lana'i Culture & Heritage Center have helped

The Ka Lanakila Church in the abandoned village of Keomoku, built in 1903, was recently restored.

The Ka Lanakila Church in the abandoned village of Keomoku, built in 1903, was recently restored.

Photo: Jeanne Cooper

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Dancers perform at the 2009 Hookupa Hula No Lanai in Lanai City's Dole Park. The hula festival returns in October.

Dancers perform at the 2009 Hookupa Hula No Lanai in Lanai City's Dole Park. The hula festival returns in October.

Photo: Jeanne Cooper

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A Hawaiian quilt and vintage-theme decor give local color to a guest room at the Hotel Lanai.

A Hawaiian quilt and vintage-theme decor give local color to a guest room at the Hotel Lanai.

Photo: Jeanne Cooper

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The Manele Bay resort is one of two hotels managed by the Four Seasons that Ellison now owns. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

The Manele Bay resort is one of two hotels managed by the Four Seasons that Ellison now owns. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

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The Blue Ginger Cafe is one of a handful of restaurants on Dole Park in Lāna‘i City. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

The Blue Ginger Cafe is one of a handful of restaurants on Dole Park in Lāna‘i City. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

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Kalanakila Oka Malamalama Church is one of nine churches in or around Lāna‘i City. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

Kalanakila Oka Malamalama Church is one of nine churches in or around Lāna‘i City. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

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Pu‘u Pehe, known in English as Sweetheart Rock, can be seen from this area near multimillion-dollar vacation homes. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

Pu‘u Pehe, known in English as Sweetheart Rock, can be seen from this area near multimillion-dollar vacation homes. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

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Simple fishing huts are more the style of Lāna‘i residents. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

Simple fishing huts are more the style of Lāna‘i residents. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

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Most of Lāna‘i is undeveloped and not easily accessible. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

Most of Lāna‘i is undeveloped and not easily accessible. (Jeanne Cooper / Special to SFGate)

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A modern fishing boat speeds through the waters of Lana'i near King Kamehameha's favorite fishing grounds.

A modern fishing boat speeds through the waters of Lana'i near King Kamehameha's favorite fishing grounds.

Photo: Jeanne Cooper, Special To SF Gate

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Sunset in upcountry Lana'i is just as beautiful as a beachfront vista.

Sunset in upcountry Lana'i is just as beautiful as a beachfront vista.

Photo: Jeanne Cooper, Special To SFGate

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Lanai's tallest sea cliffs rise near the Palaoa Light, on a promontory by the favorite fishing site of King Kamehameha.

Lanai's tallest sea cliffs rise near the Palaoa Light, on a promontory by the favorite fishing site of King Kamehameha.

Photo: Jeanne Cooper, Special To SFGate

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Lanai says aloha to good times again

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For the first time in four hours, my tour guide on Lanai is at a loss for words.

We're staring at what could be a set from "Lost": a broad, sandy beach devoid of people, a scattering of derelict huts among palm trees and an empty pier, all about a 45-minute bumpy ride from the nearest pavement. Until recently, dense growth hid much of these remains, which are of an old day-tripper resort called Club Lanai, closed since 1996.

"This is unbelievable," Bruce Harvey, a veteran guide with Rabaca's Limousine Service, finally manages. "It's only two months since I've been down here. This is good to see."

Born and raised in Honolulu, Harvey has lived on Lanai since 1999, when he began reading everything he could about its environment and history. But even those deeply versed in the island's past are finding it hard to keep up with what's going on in the present: Thanks to new owner and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, changes are coming at Silicon Valley speeds to the former Pineapple Island.

Just a few hours after my all-day SUV tour ended, Ellison's representative announced plans for a "sustainable" resort at Club Lanai - explaining the recent cleanup - as well as for a water desalinization plant, an expanded solar farm, a medical evacuation helicopter and a parallel airport runway for larger planes, according to Charity Texeira of Lanai Visitors Bureau. "We're going to have to make a few changes, but it's for the good of the community," she notes.

By most accounts, the changes Ellison has already enacted since acquiring 98 percent of the island (including its two Four Seasons resorts) in June have been positive. He quickly won widespread support by reopening the public pool, refurbishing basketball courts, repainting employee housing and adding picnic tables amid the towering Cook Island pines of Dole Park.

Surrounded by quaint stores, art galleries and a half dozen modest restaurants, the park is the central gathering place of the 13-by-18-mile island's lone town, the hyperbolically named Lanai City. Its population was 3,100 in 2010, but has dropped an estimated 500 because of unemployment - a trend that Ellison's remodeling projects are starting to reverse. Many residents tell me they are particularly grateful about what he isn't building: the controversial wind turbines formerly proposed by the island's last owner, Castle & Cooke magnate David Murdock, near pristine Polihua Beach.

But visitors are more likely to notice differences such as the newly created ocean view from the entrance to the Four Seasons at Manele Bay, where the vivid colors of Murdock's Asian-inspired lobby decor have been replaced by a neutral palette, all the better to show off the blue stripe of Hulopoe Bay. The clubby English atmosphere at "up-country" Four Seasons Lodge at Koele has also been lightened, though the guest rooms at both remain largely the same - for now, staffers murmur.

"Someone described the island as looking tired before, and now it looks refreshed," Harvey says, and I have to agree.

Every dining outlet at the resorts has also been transformed, offering menus highlighting local ingredients (or all from Hawaii, as at the Lodge's Dining Room) and drink lists with intriguing wines and ingenious cocktails like a pineapple calamansi margarita with sea-salt foam. The biggest surprise may be Manele Bay's Nobu Lanai, the latest venue for "Iron Chef" celebrity Nobu Matsuhisa's Japanese-inspired cuisine (note: San Francisco still doesn't have one).

Ellison allegedly had to meet with fellow tech titans Michael Dell, owner of Four Seasons Hualalai on the Big Island, and Bill Gates, co-owner of the Four Seasons management company, to clinch the deal for a Nobu, but once he got the green light, the project accelerated in new-Lanai fashion.

On Dec. 22, just seven weeks after the previous kitchen was gutted, Nobu Lanai debuted with a chic, ocean-view dining room and Lanai exclusives such as fresh heart of palm slivered like spaghettini and dressed with olive oil, chile pepper, dried miso and parmesan ($14) and tuna poke with sesame seeds and serrano peppers served over rice in cups of toasted nori ($8 a piece).

Perhaps in a nod to the money now being lavished on the island - Ellison reportedly plans to match the purchase price with another half billion dollars in improvements, all from his personal fortune - Nobu Lanai also serves a split lobster with shiso butter with flecks of 24K gold ($52).

But even prices in the local grocery store, Richard's Market, can give one pause: $8 for a gallon of milk, for example. Most food items are still flown in or arrive on a weekly barge - one reason that Ellison is also encouraging sustainable commercial agriculture in Dole's former fields.

Fortunately, the prices at the Lanai Ohana Poke Market, a weekday takeout counter run by a local Hawaiian family, are more in single-digit territory. I meet Texeira there for ahi poke and shrimp tempura roll before we drive over to the Lanai Animal Rescue Center, an innovative open-air cat shelter that displays the typical Lanai approach of working with what you have.

Although it's her job to promote tourism, Texeira is clearly excited about the changes that will benefit local families, such as a new sports complex, which would "save our kids from a ferry trip when they play other teams."

Ellison "won't fund the island his whole life, but he wants to make it a sustainable community," Texeira notes with pride. "He said, 'The island is small enough to make changes, but large enough that it makes a difference.' "

Having a 24-hour medevac helicopter is another small but significant change: It should lure back Kepa Maly, executive director of the Lanai Culture and Heritage Center, who had to relocate to Oahu because of health problems, Texeira says.

Maly has been instrumental in the restoration of ancient Hawaiian and plantation-era sites in remote corners of the island, such as the abandoned village of Keomoku, where the wooden Ka Lanakila church was recently restored. On the way to Club Lanai, Keomoku is a spooky place, home to remnants of the Maunalei Sugar Co. - started in 1899 and shut down two years later, its workers felled by disease and its water gone brackish.

The rusting sugarcane train half buried in the woods is an "Ozymandias"-like reminder that as exciting as Lanai's future may be, its past also has secrets to reveal.

Getting around

Those not staying at the Four Seasons pay $35 plus tax for unlimited shuttle rides linking the ferry, airport, Lanai City and two resorts. To explore the rest of the island, rent a four-wheel-drive vehicle, such as a Jeep from Dollar ($139/day, dollarlanai.com) or a Hummer H2 from Lanai Hummer Rentals ($199, 808hummers.com).

Where to eat

Lanai City offers seven affordable options, including the lunch-only Lanai Ohana Poke Market, and one finer-dining spot, the dinner-only Lanai City Grille. Of the excellent but pricey resort restaurants, Nobu Lanai in Manele Bay is most worth the splurge.

More information

Jeanne Cooper is a former editor of The San Francisco Chronicle's Travel section and writes the Aloha Friday column and Hawaii Insider blog for SFGate.com. E-mail: travel@sfchronicle.com

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